For most of her young 24 years, Astrid Silva lived in fear of being deported back to Mexico. Last week, after living in the shadows of the only country she has ever known, Astrid proudly filed her DACA papers and is beginning to live out her own big dreams.

UPDATE October 8, 2012: The video at the bottom of this article was added. Born in Durango, Mexico, Astrid and her mother came to the states when she was four years old. Her father had already been here for more than two years, preparing the way for their arrival. After living in Los Angeles for a year, the family moved to Nevada where a landscaping job was awaiting her father. He continues to work as an irrigation technician to this day. Her mother stayed at home with she and her brother but baby sat and cleaned houses when she could. Not exactly the glamorous life.

When Astrid began school she did not speak any English. Not only that, but she was the only student in her class who spoke Spanish so there was no one to talk to. She learned to speak English watching PBS and Fresh Prince of Bel Air (and remains in love with Will Smith to this day). She learned to read by reading the newspaper. As she grew older, she continued watching those television shows because they told stories that were more representative of the life she was living than any of the Spanish-speaking shows. Her father encouraged her to read the papers and get informed about the community and politics. “He always said politics was the most important thing,” says Silva. From the moment they arrived in the states, the newspaper subscription was one of the family’s constants. She credits that with learning about different political races, their importance and understanding who the players were. One of her favorites was Senator Harry Reid. As she grew older she remembers being unable to do many of the activities her friends were doing: fly on an airplane, travel, sports, girl scouts, drive a car and more, because she couldn’t provide the necessary documentation. Later, she couldn’t get a job or go to a public university. While she watched her friends move forward with their lives her own life was a strange juxtaposition of making up casual excuses for not doing the same and living in terror of being found out. Still, she dreamed of a life of freedom. She graduated from the CAD program at Advanced Technologies Academy in 2006 and then began studies at College of Southern Nevada. After two years, she joined the Hispanic Student Union (HSU) and a mentor put her on track to graduate. In 2009, the HSU went to a small rally for Senator Harry Reid. She was thrilled to have the chance to see one of her favorites. Her father dropped her off but for unknown reasons, she was asked for identification to get inside. After coming back to get her, her father cried all the way home because he knew how much Astrid had been looking forward to seeing the senator. She called one of the organizers after she got home and was encouraged to come back. As she arrived, she heard Senator Reid say that the U.S. needed to care for the children/students who had been brought to this country illegally through no fault of their own.

Organizers then took her to meet the senator. Terrified, she told him, “I am a DREAMer.” She was afraid of getting arrested or harm coming to her family. To her, political parties had always been “the government” and she had just told the third most powerful man in the United States that she was undocumented. He reassured her and told her she would be able to finish school. She began volunteering for him and the Democratic Party the very next day.

Astrid with Senator Harry Reid in 2010.

“People don’t understand why I love him (Senator Reid) so much, but I think back to that day when I thought I was the only person in the world with this problem, and here’s this man, this powerful senator, who told me it was going to be okay. That’s still with me to this day,” says Silva.

Then in February 2010, Sen. Reid made a statement about Astrid being one of his favorite DREAMers and she was publicly outed as being undocumented for the first time. Soon, the media began calling and she spoke to them but never face to face. When she introduced the senator at a BBQ in 2010, a reporter snapped her picture and put “undocumented” under her name when they ran the story. Despite her fears, she became a hero of sorts to people in similar situations. For the first time, a community of people had a face to put to the issue. People began calling about DREAMers and she became a de facto poster child.

She and a number of DREAMers/DREAM Act supporters worked hard to help Reid defeat Sharron Angle in 2010. In 2011, they worked for Chris Giunchigliani for Las Vegas Mayor because her opponent, Carolyn Goodman, is opposed to the DREAM Act. In 2012, they worked to get both the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law repealed and the DREAM Act passed. Although the DREAM Act failed, she was elated at the successful repeal of DADT.

In May 2011, Astrid graduated with her Associate’s Degree in political science. Two months later, she co-founded DREAM Big Vegas with some of the volunteers she had been working with the past year. Today, she is an organizer for PLAN Action and President of the Clark County Young Democrats. Last week, the inaugural edition of the book, “Las Vegas Latino Leaders” went on sale. One hundred seventy five community leaders are profiled. She is one of them.

In July 2012, Astrid met with Senator Reid in his Washington office to discuss the DREAM Act and immigration reform. They talked via Skype to other DREAMers from Nevada. Thanks to the efforts of Astrid, a face has been put on the plight of DREAMers. Thanks to President Obama and the support of Senator Reid, Astrid and others no longer have to live in fear of being deported.

Despite having achieved a certain level of notoriety and having an advocate in Senator Reid, Astrid remains remarkably humble of all that she has accomplished.

Little Known Facts About Astrid

Sings patriotic sings out of the blue.

Favorite ice-cream is cookie dough.

Facebook addict.

"Get it, girl" is her go-to 'whatever' phrase.

Her number one passion is simply getting people to vote. She is looking forward to her deferment application being accepted and one day going to UNLV. She claims she has no political aspirations of her own but wants to help others into office instead.

We’ll see.

As of September 2012, Nevada ranked #13 in the nation for highest number of DACA applications submitted. On a national level, 60% of all applications came from Mexican citizens. None of the applications have been denied but only thirty six have been approved. It’s a slow process, but it’s a start.